Penile implants for impotence in males are known in the prior art, and are taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,625 to Yachia et al. on Jul. 29, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,584 to Yachia et al. on Jun. 18, 1985; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,530 to Finney on May 27, 1980. Such devices are typically inflated when an erection is desired, and then subsequently deflated. During inflation, however, such devices tend to press inwardly on the corpora cavernosa in an uncomfortable fashion. Furthermore, such devices have inflation chambers that look and feel unnatural when inflated. For patients that have the availability to achieve a natural erection at least some of the time, such devices can cause severe discomfort if the device is not inflated at a rate corresponding to the natural erection.
Such prior art devices are aimed primarily at hose suffering impotence. As such, many such devices are not suitable for patients who do not suffer impotence but instead desire a more natural looking penis, either because of a deformity, injury, or naturally small penis size. These types of patients do not need a device for obtaining an erection. Instead, these patients need a device or method for augmenting penis size. To this end, a procedure of injecting autologous fat obtained by liposuction into the penis has been developed. However, such procedures can result in various complications such as oil cyst formation, infection, and transient edema and eccchymosis.
Clearly, then, there is a need for a penile implant device that is primarily directed at augmenting penis size as opposed to treating impotence. Such a needed device would be able to accommodate natural changes is penile length without causing discomfort. Such a needed device would not collapse when deflated, and when inflated would also not press inwardly on the shaft of the penis or otherwise comprise proper blood flow. Furthermore, such device would have a smooth, natural look and feel, while either flaccid or inflated. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.